A volcano in Iceland's southern area of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted early Sunday, the country's civil protection agency said.

The eruption took place shortly after midnight. It is for the first time in almost 200 years that a volcano near Eyjafjallajokull, some 120 km east of Reykjavik, capital of Iceland, has erupt.

Despite no immediate report of danger or human casualties, hundreds of local residents were being evacuated for fear of flooding caused by melting glacier waters, the agency said.

The last eruption of a volcano in the same area occurred in the 1820s.